Hyderabad, Oct. 9: The Cash-strapped Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) expects to develop only seven out of the proposed 33 radial roads by December 2010, the deadline for completion of all the roads. The radial roads were proposed to improve connectivity to the outer ring road (ORR) from various parts of the city.

About Rs 2,500 crore are required to widen all the radial roads to four and six lanes depending upon the feasibility and the number of private properties to be acquired. Of the estimated total, Rs 750 crore is needed for land acquisition.

The officials are confident of completing the seven radial roads by the deadline because the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has agreed to provide Rs 350 crore loan of the required Rs 480 crore.

A senior official in HMDA said the radial roads, some of which are presently as narrow as 30 feet at several places, were identified after a traffic study. The road development plan includes widening, construction of footpath, median, and beautification works.

The HMDA officials are planning to request the government to direct GHMC, R&B and Panchayat Raj department to bear the cost of the remaining 26 radial roads as these stretches fall under their respective jurisdictions.

Earlier, the state government had requested the Centre to release the required money under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for these roads. But the Centre rejected the proposal citing that such roads do not fall in the priority list of JNNURM. Efforts are on to ensure that the remaining 26 roads are completed along with ORR by March 2012, the official said

HYDERABAD: Yet another effort is being made to remove the new Greenlands flyover and old Begumpet Rail over Bridge (RoB) merger point, the cause of many fatal accidents.

GHMC has managed to find a technical firm, Pragati Consultants, to study the work, come out with fresh designs for submission to the South Central Railway (SCR) for approvals to remove the small erstwhile footpath causing danger to motorists besides being a bottleneck, senior officials said.

SCR's contention has been that removal of the footpath would weaken the very RoB itself and are amenable to change their mind only if the designs are approved by their own engineers as well as IIT professors.

The method was followed when the new flyover work was taken up as the municipal corporation itself then took up structure work atop the rail tracks which is usually the railways' domain.

Noted consultant Mahesh Tandon, initially nominated to prepare designs for removing the footpath in the median, was eased out of the work following a few construction mishaps on Delhi Metro as well as critical remarks he had attracted following the Punjagutta flyover incident. Pragati was chosen after three earlier tenders elicited no response, said senior officials.

Safety features: In between, following a public outcry over several fatal accidents due to the footpath being in the middle, GHMC had put up a few safety features a year ago. These included rumble strips (speed breakers) with solar studs, chevron markings, and collapsible vertical poles with radium stickers, solar reflective raised object markers, cautionary sign boards and blinkers . But, most of them seem to have worn out now.

ok. So its yet another one. The one i thought is a railway ROB just north of this one on same road. That one has been in construction forever due to SCR. I feel railway ministry is so inefficient in India.

Across India, even in highway projects, most of the four laning work will be completed and the only portion that will be delayed generally is a rail over bridge. I have seen tons of examples for these kind of situations. I just don't know why no one does anything about this.

I agree with you on this....managing critical path items (rail over bridge, flyover) in a project is key for success of any infrastructure project. Unfortunately, dealing with Indian Railways is painfully slow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyderabadnawab

Across India, even in highway projects, most of the four laning work will be completed and the only portion that will be delayed generally is a rail over bridge. I have seen tons of examples for these kind of situations. I just don't know why no one does anything about this.

In a move to decongest entry points into the city, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed eight-laning on two important stretches of road — Erragadda-Patancheru and Malakpet-LB Nagar. The NHAI released Rs 100 crore for the project which will also have service roads on both sides of the highway.

A meeting of high-level officials of various departments convened by R&B principal secretary, Ms Lakshmi Parthasarathy, on Thursday discussed the plan of action for implementing the project. Officials of GHMC, metro water works and Central power discom were also present.

Sources said the NHAI informed that it was ready to lay the road provided the state authorities make the land available . Presently, the road width on these two stretches varies between 100 ft and 120 ft. “The NHAI proposed to make the width a uniform 200 ft,” a senior official said. According to a preliminary survey, about 600 structures would have to be either partially or fully demolished. Electric poles and water and sewerage lines would have to be shifted and trees translocated. The exact cost the state has to bear will be arrived at after thorough inspection property-wise, an official pointed out.

Widening the two roads would help the metro project as one line passes through these two stretches.

HYDERABAD: Even as Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is struggling to complete the 162-km Outer Ring Road (ORR) by 2012, it has drawn up another ambitious plan to build Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) in the authority's extended area.

The urban development authority has incorporated Peripheral Ring Road covering 250 kms in the surrounding areas in the recently released draft master plan for the extended master plan.

The 45-metre (about 200 feet) road would connect areas like Chevella, Sankarpally, Sangareddy, Toopran, Agapally, Bibinagar, Shadnagar and Choutuppal in Ranga Reddy, Medak, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts. As per the draft plan, the HMDA has identified 25 urban pockets with a population of up to 2.5 lakh and urban centres where settlements have come up and have potential to grow.

HMDA officials said PRR would have connectivity to urban pockets and urban centres which are growing in peripheral areas. Arterial roads have been proposed in the master plan to increase connectivity between the extended area and core Hyderabad Urban Development Area (Huda). If the centres are well connected with roads, railways and provided amenities, burden on the developed areas would come down.

"PRR is planned in view of future needs and growth. It will be taken up after completion of ORR and will be targeted for the next 10 years," HMDA member planning, A V Bhide, told TOI.

Officials said the population under HMDA would be 1.8 crore by 2031 and so the need for creation of multiple nuclei centres. The newly-included areas of HMDA would have a population of around 47 lakh by 2031 and there is a need for well-connected road network.

Giving emphasis in the draft master plan for transportation and road network, the HMDA has proposed 60m, 45m and 18 metre wide roads at growth pocket level apart from MMTS and railway terminals.